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Want to completly delete and troll a wikipedia page? Why not Zoidberg? |
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{{Infobox Futurama character |
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| name = Doctor Zoidberg |
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| image = [[File:Dr John Zoidberg.png|frameless|Dr. Zoidberg]] |
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| caption = |
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| gender = Male |
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| species = Decapodian |
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| origin = Decapod 10 |
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| occupation = Staff doctor at the [[Futurama#Planet Express|Planet Express]] delivery company. |
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<!-- NOTICE: The "relatives" field is NOT an arbitrary list of relatives, but rather to lead to additional commentary about related characters. Only characters with significant connection to this character should be added. Please discuss on talk page before making an addition. --> |
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| relatives = '''Uncle:''' [[That's Lobstertainment!|Harold Zoid]] |
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| voiceactor = [[Billy West]] |
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| appearance = "[[The Series Has Landed]]" |
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}} |
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'''Doctor John A. Zoidberg''' is a fictional character in the [[animated series|television series]] ''[[Futurama]]''. He is a [[lobster]]-like [[extraterrestrial life|alien]] from the planet Decapod 10, who emigrated to 30th century Earth, where he works as the staff [[physician|doctor]] for Planet Express, despite his woeful understanding of human [[physiology]], and allusions to his questionable credentials. |
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Zoidberg is voiced by [[Billy West]], who performs the character with a [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]]-inflected accent inspired by actors [[George Jessel (actor)|George Jessel]] and [[Lou Jacobi]].<ref name=npr>{{cite news |author= |work=[[Fresh Air]] |title=Billy West: The Many (Cartoon) Voices In His Head |url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128490848 |quote='That voice is a combination of a couple of people in show business that I always found really funny and interesting. ... One was from vaudeville ... named George Jessel, and he was the 'Toastmaster General of the United States,' and he would always have appropriate toasts for every occasion. And he had a kind of a marble mouth. ... And the other guy was an actor by the name of Lou Jacobi. He was in the movie Arthur.' |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] |date=July 15, 2010 |accessdate=2010-09-05 }}</ref> |
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==Character creation== |
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The name Zoidberg comes from an [[Apple II series|Apple II]] game that [[David X. Cohen]] created in high school called ''Zoid'', similar to the game ''[[Qix]]''. The game was rejected by [[Brøderbund]].<ref name="Wired">{{cite web| url=http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/12/video-games-f-1.html| title=Videogames & Futurama, Part 2: How Zoidberg Got His Name From a Game| author=Baker, Chris| date=2007-12-18| accessdate=2008-03-28| publisher=Wired}}</ref><ref name="Cohen02">{{cite video| people=Cohen, David X |date=2002|title=Futurama season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "[[The Series Has Landed]]"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref><ref name="Cohen3-8">{{cite video| people=Cohen, David X |date=2003|title=Futurama season 3 DVD commentary for the episode "[[A Taste of Freedom]]"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> One of Cohen's inspirations for the character of Dr. Zoidberg was the fact that ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' character [[Leonard McCoy]] frequently administered medical treatment to aliens such as [[Mr. Spock]], so Cohen wished human characters in ''Futurama'' to be in the uneasy situation of being treated by an alien doctor.<ref name="Cohen02"/> |
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During the first season, jokes surrounding Zoidberg usually focused on his incompetence as a doctor, his poor understanding of human anatomy, and the fact that all of his co-workers hate him. One of his running traits is his pronunciation of the word "robot," emphasising the "ro-" so it sounds like "roh-bit," an inflection typical among [[Ashkenazi Jews]]. As the series progressed, writers gradually introduced the themes that Zoidberg is also poor, homeless, friendless, smelly, undignified, and repulsive.<ref name="Cohen13">{{cite video| people=Cohen, David X |date=2002|title=Futurama season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "[[Fry and the Slurm Factory]]"|medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> Regardless of these traits, Zoidberg generally attempts to make himself look refined, successful, and important in front of others, though this illusion is quickly dashed when pointed out. |
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[[Billy West]] came up with Dr. Zoidberg's voice, which is inspired by actors [[Lou Jacobi]] and [[George Jessel (actor)|George Jessel]].<ref name=npr/><ref>{{cite web | last = Joel | first = Keller| title = Billy West: The TV Squad Interview| url=http://www.tvsquad.com/2006/06/15/billy-west-the-tv-squad-interview/| accessdate = 2008-01-14 }}</ref> Zoidberg is frequently identified by the writers in episode commentaries as having some stereotypical [[Judaism|Jewish]] characteristics, though in the episode "[[Future Stock]]" he is barred from a "Bot Mitzvah" (a robot [[Bar Mitzvah]]), because shellfish are not [[Kosher]]. |
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==Fictional character biography== |
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Zoidberg is the [[Physician|company doctor]] at Planet Express. Although he claims expertise in [[human]] [[medicine]], particularly [[internal medicine]], his knowledge of human [[anatomy]] and physiology is atrocious. For example, he cannot tell the difference between robots and humans (or human males and females), believes food is digested in the heart and that humans have multiple mouths and a dorsal fin. His only knowledge of humans seems to come from [[television advertisement]]s, although his skills as a physician generally vary: in "[[Put Your Head on My Shoulder (Futurama)|Put Your Head on My Shoulder]]" he manages to successfully transplant [[Philip J. Fry|Fry's]] head onto [[Amy Wong|Amy's]] body after Fry's body incurs massive trauma in a vehicular accident (caused by Zoidberg himself) that requires extensive repair, but in "[[Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder]]" he incorrectly declares Fry dead only for him to wake up a few seconds later. In ''[[Bender's Big Score]]'', he performs several limb reattachments to moderate success. In "[[Parasites Lost]]", due to his incompetence as a physician, he comes to the conclusion that Fry, who is frequently injured, is a [[hypochondriac]], an accusation he makes when Fry sits before Zoidberg with a pipe through his chest. He claims to be an [[Doctor of Medicine|M.D.]],<ref>{{cite video|date=2007|title=[[Futurama: Bender's Big Score]]|medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> but states in "[[A Clone of My Own]]" that he lost his medical degree in a volcano. He later states in "[[The Duh-Vinci Code]]" that he has a [[Ph.D.]] in [[art history]]. Other allusions to his questionable medical training include the episode "[[Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles]]", in which he comments, "I'm no doctor, but this machine guy could really use a lozenge." |
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Despite his career as a doctor, Zoidberg is repeatedly identified as living in [[poverty]], lonely and desperate for friendship and attention. The crew are often disgusted by his foul habits, such as squirting ink or eating from trash cans, though he is mostly oblivious to their true feelings about him, having referred to [[Hermes Conrad]] and Bender as friends. Hermes seems to have a more intense dislike of Zoidberg, seeing him as even more expendable than the rest of the crew. However, when Fry reads Hermes' mind in "Into the Wild Green Yonder", it is revealed that Hermes sees him as "pathetic but lovable". Zoidberg became a hero to all of Earth when he saved Earth from enslavement to his own kind in "[[A Taste of Freedom]]". Fry and the Professor are usually the only ones to refer to Zoidberg as a friend, as in ''Bender's Big Score'', in which Zoidberg says, "He was the only one of you who never struck me!" while attending Fry's memorial. Zoidberg has ambitions to be a [[stand-up comedian]], but he is entirely unsuccessful at this endeavor. In one episode, his uncle, the [[silent film|silent hologram]] star Harold Zoid (a parody of [[Harold Lloyd]]), advises him to give up on comedy and finance a film whose script Zoid is writing. |
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When frightened or fleeing from danger, Zoidberg makes a high-pitched whooping sound, similar to [[Curly Howard|Curly]] in ''[[The Three Stooges]]'' or squirts ink at his attacker. It is revealed in "[[The Cryonic Woman]]" that Zoidberg's fantasy is to become a grandmother. "A Taste of Freedom" and "[[Bender's Game]]" indicate that Zoidberg harbored a childhood dream of working in [[show business]] as a comedian or song-and-dance man, but that his parents pushed him to become a doctor. |
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The reason that the Professor continues to employ Zoidberg as the staff physician despite his apparent incompetence is revealed in "[[The Tip of the Zoidberg]]". Under the impression that he had been infected with a delayed-onset case of the fatal disease hyper-malaria whilst serving in a covert quasi-military mission for Mom, the Professor asked Zoidberg, who had previously saved him from a [[yeti]], on the promise that when the disease manifested itself, Zoidberg would [[euthanize]] him. It is also explained that Zoidberg is, in fact, a competent physician - just not for humans. Mom (Carol to Zoidberg) referred to Zoidberg as "the best in the business" when it comes to alien anatomy. Mom also asks Zoidberg why he stayed with Farnsworth all through the years; saying Zoidberg could have been a millionaire with his own research lab. Zoidberg replies to Mom that it was because Farnsworth is his friend. |
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Zoidberg is depicted as being ignorant of human customs, and socially inept, to the point of inspiring great aggravation in others. In "[[Where the Buggalo Roam]]" during his stay at the ranch of [[Amy Wong]]'s parents, he bathes in their champagne, breaks their television, fertilizes the caviar before Amy's father eats it, draws mustaches on several portraits around the house, and refers to the ranch as "Rancho Zoidberg," enraging the Wongs. |
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Zoidberg's race, the Decapodians — from the sandy, beach-like planet Decapod 10 — are [[crustaceans]], generally [[lobster|lobster-like]] in appearance — though they have been called [[squid]]s, [[crab]]s or [[crawdad]]s — with lobster-like claws, mouth tentacles, a hard [[exoskeleton]], a fleshy, boneless interior, a fin that appears atop their heads during mating season or extreme anger, an ink pouch, two stomachs (one saltwater and one freshwater), three hearts, (originally four), [[gonopore]]s, a gland that stinks when Decapodians are bored and a complex system of internal organs, "most of which are either redundant or unnecessary." He is not fazed when one of his hearts is removed by an alien autopsy team of human doctors, saying "Take it, take it, I have four of them!" in "[[Roswell That Ends Well]]", and loses various other useless organs in that episode during the autopsy. Zoidberg has been depicted as able to consume things not considered food by humans, such as fish bones, wood and chess pieces. In the episode "[[Bendin' in the Wind]]", Zoidberg produces [[tie-dye]] blue pearls after consuming large amounts of dirt. In [[Mobius Dick]], it is revealed that Zoidberg spontaneously grows hair in moments of extreme fright. Like Zoidberg, most of other Decapodians are depicted as having Yiddish accents and mannerisms. At one point in all Decapodians' lives, they enter a mating phase, or "The Frenzy" as they call it, which causes them to behave in a neurotic and manic way. During this chaotic time, their behavior is dictated by the tiny brain located in their rumps. They also develop incredible super-human strength, their head fin comes out for mating displays, their stink glands increase production and the males become saturated with male jelly as the females become engorged with eggs. In the episode "[[Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?]]", it is indicated that once Decapodians pass on their genes, they die. |
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The episode "[[Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles]]" indicates that young Decapodians progress through various crustacean, [[invertebrate]], and fish-like forms before reaching their adult form. In the episode "[[A Taste of Freedom]]", a young Zoidberg is seen with his typical humanoid form. |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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==External links== |
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*{{infosphere|Dr. John A. Zoidberg}} |
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{{Futurama}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zoidberg}} |
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[[Category:Fictional extraterrestrial characters]] |
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[[Category:Fictional crustaceans]] |
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[[Category:Fictional doctors]] |
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[[Category:Fictional immigrants to the United States]] |
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[[Category:Fictional lobsters and crayfish]] |
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[[Category:Fictional medical personnel]] |
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[[Category:Futurama characters]] |
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[[Category:Jewish comedy and humor]] |
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[[Category:Cthulhoid]] |
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[[Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1999]] |
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[[bg:Доктор Джон Д. Зойдбърг]] |
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[[cs:Seznam hlavních postav ve Futuramě#John Zoidberg]] |
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[[es:Doctor Zoidberg]] |
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[[eu:Zoidberg Doktorea]] |
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[[fr:Docteur Zoidberg]] |
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[[hr:Dr. Zoidberg]] |
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[[it:Dottor Zoidberg]] |
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[[he:דוקטור זוידברג]] |
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[[nah:Dr. Zoidberg]] |
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[[no:Dr. Zoidberg]] |
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[[pl:Doktor Zoidberg]] |
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[[pt:Dr. Zoidberg]] |
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[[ru:Зойдберг]] |
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[[simple:Doctor Zoidberg]] |
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[[fi:Tohtori John A. Zoidberg]] |
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[[tr:Doktor Zoidberg]] |
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[[uk:Зойдберґ]] |
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Revision as of 01:57, 18 October 2011
Want to completly delete and troll a wikipedia page? Why not Zoidberg?